What Do Mice Eat?

If there’s one thing mice have mastered, it’s scavenging for food. Whether it’s a wild mouse foraging in a field or a house mouse sneaking into your pantry, their tiny size hides a big appetite. They’re curious, adaptable, and not at all picky. That resourcefulness is part of what makes them both fascinating to watch and tricky to manage. Knowing the answers to “What do mice eat?” is key to protecting your home from these uninvited guests and keeping your family safe from some serious bad germs—all while appreciating the cleverness of one of nature’s smallest survivors.

It’s simple. Mice come into your home because you have a warm space that shelters them, and they stay because you have lots of yummy treats to fill their bellies. This is an intelligent creature who understands that the shelter you provide is also a perfect spot for them to keep their family safe from predators (assuming your pet cat, Whiskers, stays away!).

Mice may be small, but when it comes to finding food, they’re absolute giants. Out in the wild, they’ll weave through tall grass or dig under leaves to uncover seeds and insects. In your home, they can sniff out a forgotten crumb faster than you can find your keys. As for pet mice? They’ll happily scurry over for a fresh veggie or crunchy treat. Their menu is as varied as it is surprising, and that adaptability is what helps them survive just about anywhere. Learning what mice eat not only helps you keep pet mice healthy—it also gives you the upper hand if you’re trying to keep these furry ones out of your cereal.

Field Mice

Field mice, also known as deer mice, are opportunistic eaters whose diet shifts with the seasons and food availability. While seeds and grains make up the bulk of their meals, they’ll also eat fruits, berries, roots, buds, fungi, and protein-rich insects or larvae, especially in warmer months. In spring and summer, they take advantage of those fresh plants and insect populations, while during the fall you’ll find them gathering and storing seeds and nuts to prepare for winter. When weather turns cold, they rely heavily on these food stores but will also venture into sheds, barns, or homes to seek additional food like dried goods, pet food, or bird seed.

Mostly nocturnal foragers, deer mice use their keen sense of smell to locate food and are skilled at creating multiple storage sites—whether tucked away in burrows, under logs, or hidden inside walls.

House Mice

House mice have remarkable adaptability. This is one reason your house is so inviting to them. You literally have everything they need to survive. They love grains, fruits, and seeds, making your kitchen a tempting treasure trove of goodies. Items like cereal, rice, oats, and bread—basically everything rich in carbohydrates—are prime targets.

Speaking of carbs…house mice have quite the sweet tooth, so be careful where you hoard your chocolate. You’re not the only one sneaking into your stash for a midnight snack!

Domesticated House Mice a.k.a. Fancy Mice

Pet and fancy mice thrive on a balanced menu built around high-quality commercial pellets or lab blocks, which pack in all the essential nutrients and keep them from picking out only the “tasty bits.” Fresh veggies and fruits—like a floret of broccoli, a slice of carrot, or a berry—add variety and enrichment, but too much can upset their delicate digestion and their waistlines. Grains, nuts, and seeds are their favorite desserts: fun, tasty, and best saved for special moments.

Tip: Veterinarians recommend that treats make up no more than 5%–10% of a mouse’s diet, ensuring these curious nibblers stay healthy.

Mice are adventurous eaters, but not everything belongs on their menu. Fresh, clean water should always be available, whether it’s in a bottle or a sturdy bowl—hydration is as important for them as it is for us. This is a big reason your home is so inviting…there’s water everywhere! One quirk that might surprise you is coprophagy, the perfectly normal—if slightly unappealing—habit of eating their own feces.

Gross, right? Well, not to them, and it’s actually kinda smart.

It’s a built-in nutrient recycling system that helps them absorb essentials like vitamin B12 and folic acid. That said, there are foods that should never cross a mouse’s whiskers: grapes, raisins, rhubarb, chocolate, caffeine, garlic, onions, avocado, alcohol, and anything sticky that could pose a choking hazard. Keeping these off the menu is key to making sure your pet forager stays healthy and safe. While it might be tempting to leave these out for more nefarious reasons, you should know that most of these foods are toxic to dogs, cats, and most other pets.

Fun Fact: Contrary to Saturday morning cartoons, mice are not cheese lovers! They will almost always gravitate toward peanut butter or sugary treats over cheese.

If you’re dealing with an unwanted mouse problem, understanding what mice eat gives you a big advantage.

• The first step to making your home less appealing is to cut off their food supply.
  • Indoors
    • Store all dry goods in airtight containers
    • Clean up crumbs immediately
    • Keep trash cans sealed
    • Avoid leaving pet food out overnight.
  • Outdoors
    
    • Secure compost bins
    • Sweep up spilled birdseed
    • Clear away fallen fruit
• Once you’ve eliminated easy meals, you can place traps or bait stations in areas where you’ve seen droppings or gnaw marks. Using bait that mimics what mice eat naturally—like peanut butter, oats, or seeds—can make your traps more effective.
• Pair these with sealing entry points with steel wool or other proven materials around your home, such as gaps near doors, windows, or utility lines, to prevent new mice from moving in.

While there’s no need to panic over just one mouse, you do need help when you have an issue with several—and unfortunately, there is almost never an occasion where just one mouse is in your house. Not only do they have a ton of adaptability when it comes to mice and their eating habits, but they are also extremely adept at staying hidden.

Our technicians know how to find their nests and remove them. We not only handle the problem upfront, but we also come back and dispose of them once the bait and traps have done their job.

No matter where you live in the Garden State, you can become the victim of a mice infestation. But no worries, you have us!

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